InSight Surface Operations, 26 Nov 2018- 21 Dec 2022 Options

[Tom Steiner]

Phil/PaulH51 - thank you for all the detailed images and information on the tether burial ...... but am having a hard time following it all

Is there a list of the activities with dates/sols where all of this is summarized?

2/27 sol 801 first trench - 1 pass of scoop
2/28 sol 803 second trench - 3 passes of scoop
3/5 test on Earth - location ???
etc.

Thanks.

[Phil Stooke]

Post 1131 on this thread is about as close as you are likely to get to a list of operations. It will be updated occasionally.

Phil

[rlorenz]

I have to admit this one took me by surprise (IDC images from sol 884)
[attachment=47950:InSight_tile.jpg]

We had a lot of discussions over the last 6 months about doing something that seems superficially suicidal. But some careful consideration of dust adhesion and removal processes showed it was the most likely thing to help the energy situation as we move through aphelion in the next few months. I was very excited when this experiment yielded an instant jump in power of a few per cent.


https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8959/nasas-insig...t/?site=insight

[Explorer1]

https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8959/nasas-insig...t/?site=insight

(Some members of the public have suggested using the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s whirring blades to clear off InSight’s panels, but that’s not an option, either: The operation would be too risky, and the helicopter is roughly 2,145 miles, or 3,452 kilometers, away.)

Yes, I'd say number two is a bit more of an obstacle than number one...

Glad to see this soil at least has some use, after what it did to HP3....

[PaulH51]

Sol 897 IDC: Saltation Saturday More commonly known as dumping a scoop of regolith on the lander's deck.
Saltation

[PaulH51]

A little weekend trenching on Sol 904. Before & After IDC frames shows a new trench close the HP3.

[Phil Stooke]

The trench 'underneath' that little trench is also new on the same sol.

Phil

[PaulH51]

Another Saltation Saturday (Sol 911 IDC animated GIF)

Reduced to 800x800px to stay within upload limits

[Steve G]

Here is an article from Space News concerning the dropping power levels due to dust accumulation. Unlike Spirit and Opportunity, there have been no cleaning events. Perhaps a future solar powered lander may address the dust issue with a cleaning demonstration package, as the status quo is limiting spacecraft survivability.

https://spacenews.com/dropping-power-levels...nsight-mission/

[PaulH51]

The robotic arm is seen over the lander's deck on Sol 918 in this Instrument Deployment Camera frame.

There are several more frames on the public server, but I can not work out if it's and imaging session, or another saltation exercise, as I see no scoop activity.

I guess we'll have to wait for more images...

[stevesliva]

https://spacenews.com/dropping-power-levels...nsight-mission/

Interesting to note this tweet in the days after the above:

Because of the hard work of my team, solar power has improved. At the start of the year we thought we’d stop collecting science for six months; now I’ll be operating for most of the summer.

https://twitter.com/NASAInSight/status/1408552495501123585

[PaulH51]

Another Saltation session attempted on sol 939 (July 18, 2021)
IDC images showing the material in the scoop and the landers deck ~30 minutes later

[serpens]

The results from InSight have a few surprises.

https://www.space.com/mars-large-core-thin-...insight-results

[Explorer1]

Q &A here with some nice discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kca3Y8XUK1c

[PaulH51]

Some light gardening during sol 952
Here's a before & after (sol 946 / 952 IDC)
Note: the trench nearest SEIS has been extended, with regolith accumulated for future use.